This invention relates generally to apparatus for supporting and guiding a flexible line for movement along a path having a substantially straight portion and having a downwardly concave portion located at one end of the straight portion. While the apparatus of the invention can be employed in numerous applications, it is especially adapted for use with a device for sanitizing trash or laundry chutes.
A typical chute sanitizer is disclosed in Boyd U.S. Pat. No. 3,690,560 and is adapted for use with a chute which is housed in the wall of a building. Such a sanitizer includes a spray head suspended from the end of a flexible line or hose which extends outwardly through the chute and the wall adjacent the upper end of the chute. The hose is wound around a power-driven reel and communicates with a source of cleaning solution. When the reel is rotated first in one direction and then the other, the spray head is moved downwardly and upwardly within the chute and sprays the solution against the chute to clean the latter.
Typically, a pulley is mounted within the chute adjacent the upper end thereof and serves to guide and support the hose. The hose usually extends horizontally from the reel, through the wall and into the chute, curves downwardly around the pulley and then depends vertically into the chute. The pulley guides the hose to curve gradually from horizontal to vertical and serves as a low friction support for the hose.